Baltimore And Washington

Accusing the state of failing to control industrial air pollution, environmental groups went to court yesterday to force the Maryland Department of the Environment to set new emission limits for a Baltimore trash incinerator. The groups also threatened to sue Atlanta-based Mirant for allegedly spewing pollutants from one of its power plants in suburban Washington. The plant has been operating for years without a permit. Activists said the actions were prompted by their frustration with the O'Malley administration for foot-dragging in dealing with pollution violations at some of the state's largest factories and power plants.

After a decade of lobbying by planners and politicians, the Baltimore-Washington corridor has emerged as a leading contender for the nation's first high-speed magnetic levitation train."

Richard Victor Miceli, who refinished the doors on the Washington Monument and other Baltimore landmarks, died while swimming Tuesday in the pool of his Mocksville, N.C., home. The former Catonsville resident was 57.A heart attack is suspected as the cause of death.Mr. Miceli operated Baltimore Stripping Corp. from 1985 to 1990, offering advice to hundreds of customers restoring rowhouses and other buildings during the rehab boom of William Donald Schaefer's mayoral administration."From early on, Rick liked to work with his hands and with wood," said his brother, Francis G. Miceli Jr. of Homeland.

In the race for federal money to build the nation's first high-speed magnetic levitation train, Maryland will take a big step forward next week as one of a handful of states awarded funds for formal studies."

Baltimore's 12.3 percent decline in population between 1990 and 1998 was the second-largest drop among U.S. cities with 500,000 or more residents, according to figures released yesterday by the U.S. Census Bureau.Only Washington, where the population shrank 13.8 percent during the decade, had a greater percentage loss than Baltimore among the country's 26 largest cities, census figures show.The only other large cities that lost people during the decade were Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Detroit, Boston and Memphis, Tenn.

The Baltimore Arena is under new management.SMG, a private management company that oversees public facilities throughout the nation, has acquired the rights to operate the downtown Baltimore facility from Centre Management.SMG, which is based in Philadelphia, did not disclose the terms of its agreement with the Washington-based former operator, a company owned by Abe Pollin. He is the owner of the NBA's Washington Wizards, the NHL's Washington Capitals and the WNBA's Washington Mystics.The change from a regional to a national company has already brought smiles to the faces of key people associated with the Arena.

OF THE 20 Summer Olympiads that have been held outside the United States, three-quarters took place in national capitals.It makes sense that a country would showcase its seat of government -- the most tangible symbol of its values.That hasn't been the case in the United States, however, where St. Louis, Los Angeles and Atlanta have hosted the four summer games held in this country. That should be a consideration of the U.S. Olympic Committee as it weighs the joint bid of Baltimore and Washington to host the 2012 Olympiad.

Olympic silver medalist Jair Lynch and Morgan State University President Earl Richardson are among 10 community and business leaders named to the Washington-Baltimore Regional 2012 Coalition by those cities' mayors.Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke named five people to that board, which is working to bring the 2012 Olympics to the region:Richardson, John A. Moag Jr., chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority; Ioanna Morfessis, president and CEO of the Greater Baltimore Alliance; Ron Shapiro, a Baltimore attorney, and William L. Jews, president and chief executive officer of CareFirst, which was formed by the combination of the Maryland and District of Columbia Blue Cross Blue Shield plans.

THE AUDACIOUS effort by Baltimore and Washington to seek the 2012 Olympics faces a critical deadline. Unless it wins the backing of both jurisdictions' city councils by the end of the year, the bid will not be considered by the U.S. Olympic Committee.With Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke championing the joint application, the Baltimore City Council appears set to approve a support resolution tomorrow. A similar resolution has been endorsed by outgoing Mayor Marion S. Barry. The District of Columbia City Council is scheduled to consider it Dec. 1, before the newly elected members are sworn in.Once those resolutions are secured, the Washington-Baltimore Regional 2012 Coalition can file its proposal to host the Summer Games.

You want to bet against him, bet against him. The new football stadium at Camden Yards is testament to John Moag's fighting spirit. And this time, he is not alone.Moag is merely one of the heavy hitters trying to secure the 2012 Olympics for Baltimore and Washington. Chances are it will never happen. But the last time people bet against Moag, he stole the Cleveland Browns."Objectively, in a lot of respects, I'm more confident about this," said Moag, one of the Baltimore board members appointed by Mayor Schmoke to join the consolidated organizing committee preparing the Olympic bid."

Jeff Quinton was laid off from an information-technology job in early July and immediately began sending out resumes and making calls to find a new gig. At first, nothing. The Perry Hall resident, 35, got a few robot e-mail acknowledgments of his application and a rejection. Nothing like a real prospect. His health coverage runs out at the end of the month. This week the phone started to ring. A recruiting agency in Hanover was beefing up its help desk. A social media company in Washington was expanding.

Accusing the state of failing to control industrial air pollution, environmental groups went to court yesterday to force the Maryland Department of the Environment to set new emission limits for a Baltimore trash incinerator. The groups also threatened to sue Atlanta-based Mirant for allegedly spewing pollutants from one of its power plants in suburban Washington. The plant has been operating for years without a permit. Activists said the actions were prompted by their frustration with the O'Malley administration for foot-dragging in dealing with pollution violations at some of the state's largest factories and power plants.

It can be argued that music is the magic that makes a city come alive. Until recently, much of that magic has been missing in Baltimore. If you wanted to hear a rich array of popular musicians live, an expedition to Washington, Philadelphia or New York was usually required. But all of that is changing dramatically, and Baltimore's night life is changing with it. The city's music scene is growing exponentially. Two downtown venues with capacities of more than 1,000 have sprung up in recent years, and an ailing amphitheater was given new life.

You keep hearing about the American love affair with private vehicles, but the reaction to the Feb. 12 Getting There column suggests many motorists would love to jilt the family car if effective alternatives were available. More than a dozen e-mails responded to a report on a little-known seven-day public transit link between Baltimore and Washington. As usual, readers were able to add new layers of useful information. Others just sent a box of much-appreciated ego candy. "Thank you so much for this article," wrote Catriona M. K. MacLeod, a professor at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland.

The hyphen that connects Baltimore and Washington in the name of the local body of United Methodists today represents more than just geographic borders. The character symbolizes the history of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of United Methodists, borne of the merger of two organizations that had overlapping physical boundaries and racial barriers. Segregation within individual Methodist churches began not long after the denomination was formally established in the United States at Baltimore's Lovely Lane Meeting House in 1784.

WASHINGTON -- The good news for Maryland: With the House majority leader, a senior Senate appropriator and the head of the House Democratic campaign committee in Washington, the state seldom has wielded so much clout. The less good news: Maryland's enhanced power comes just as tight budgets and new rules on pork-barrel politics could limit the ability of its congressional delegation to deliver federal money to the state. "I don't think the spigots are going to be opened in the next fiscal year," said William A. Galston, a professor of public policy at the University of Maryland and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Jack Marsh, a retired award-winning news photographer who chased fires and accidents for Baltimore and Washington television stations, died Sunday at Maryland Shock Trauma Center after suffering a fall at his Hampden home. He was 78. "He was a great Baltimore character," said WJZ-TV's Ron Matz. "Everybody really enjoyed being around him. The news was in his blood, and he loved to chase fires." Born Roland Walter Marsh in Baltimore and known as Jack, he was raised on Hickory Avenue in Hampden.

A Lutherville developer is planning $230 million worth of new warehouses, offices and apartments near Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and Arundel Mills mall that could serve employment growth expected from the nation's base realignment. Preston Capital Management LLC expects to build 2 million square feet of commercial space over five years on four sites in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, said David P. Scheffenacker Jr., president and chief executive of Preston Partners Inc., a commercial brokerage and development firm that launched Preston Capital two years ago. The projects could eventually house agencies or firms employing some 5,500 workers, Scheffenacker said.

Baltimore's downtown buildings and streets stood in this week as substitutes for Washington for a new Die Hard film. Movie companies take liberties all the time, and when the films are completed, it's fun to see how the sleight-of-hand works. But could the two cities, Baltimore and Washington, be more different? The things that separate Baltimore and Washington are far larger than 38 miles. I spent four undergraduate years at the Catholic University of America in Northeast Washington (the part of the capital no tourist visits)

On July 17, 2006, BARRY HAWKINS died of cancer in Hanover, NH. Born in Baltimore, January 2, 1936, attended Douglas High School, Coppin State College and several fine arts colleges. He was an accomplished artist and sculptor and a lover of the arts and music. He worked as a Naval Engineer in NYC in the early 1960s, and an award winning TV Reporter in Washington, DC, in the late 60s, a radio announcer in Baltimore and Washington, most recently he worked for Vermont Public Radio in the 1990s as an announcer and programmer.